The Georgia State Properties Commission has approved the state's purchase of more than 10,000 acres in the Oaky Woods wildlife management area.

The Department of Natural Resources last week recommended the nearly $29 million purchase of the land along the Ocmulgee River to protect bear habitat in central Georgia. DNR's decision came six years after the state passed on an opportunity to buy that same land in Houston County.

Gov. Sonny Perdue said in a statement Monday that final approval of the purchase had been given. Perdue also announced seven new conservation easement donations from private landowners to the state of Georgia as part of the Georgia Land Conservation Program.

The seven new donations conserve a total of more than 6,000 acres of natural and working lands.